posted
Hey gang. With Infinite Crisis right around the corner and the announcement that a couple of Legion issues will deal with that series, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the way the Legion was included in past mega-crossovers. And of course, how can you begin anywhere except Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The Plot - Just about all existence is screwed as the Anti-Monitor seeks to destroy every single universe possible. After four issues he does just that with the exception of five earths. After a few more issues, those five earths are squeezed into the "streamlined" new earth that we've been reading about for the past 20 years. Along the way every hero possible fights the Anti-Monitor, some shadow demons, and the largest collection of super-villains ever assembled.
How's the Legion involved? - Very few Legionnaires get to do anything particularly significant throughout the series, though at least one citizen of the 30th century appears in issues #1-10. Some Legionnaires take part in certain missions, and there are a couple of scenes in the 30th century that show how the Legion is handling the Crisis. Dawnstar gets some attention in the first four issues as part of the Monitor's inital strike force protecting his machines. Kid Psycho, a character who I think may have made two or three appearances prior to this is the Legion's lone casualty in issue #3. Even Legion villains get to make appearances, too, in the big Villain war of issues #9-10 though none are anything more than backdrops.
Crossover issues -
LSH (v.3) #16 - I'm not sure if this is an official crossover issue since I've only read the "Tales" reprint, but it does reference the Crisis specifically. Actually, it really only deals with Braniac 5's reaction to the death of Supergirl in Crisis #7. This was a reaction that got short shrift in the Crisis series (one panel of Brainy crying at Supergirl's funeral) especially considering that the Supergirl had been spending alot of time with the Legion before this. Anyway, the seeds were planted for the whole Sensor Girl mystery here, as Brainy starts to wonder if she really was Supergirl.
LSH (v.3) #18 - An official crossover issue and a fun one at that! There's a Crisis going on, but nobody remembers what it's about (which is consistent with the way the Crisis ended). The anti-matter wall destroys Takron-Galtos while Legionnaires try to save the prisoners there (and as we see in Crisis, the original Braniac borrows a few villains for use in his villain army). Then to top it off, the Infinite Man returns to get revenge on Rond Vidar. This is the way crossover issues should be done - using the crossover to continue it's own stories and not coming to a screeching halt for a month.
So what memories do you have of this series and the Legion's involvement in it? My thoughts to follow --->
From: Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Crisis #1 has a very special place in my comic book reading memories. I still remember the day I had my mom buy it while we visited the drug store (remember when comics were sold there?) I had no idea who any of the characters were on the cover except for Firestorm, Superman ("with gray hair?"), and Green Lantern ("what the..., he's a black guy!"). I'm not even sure my little 9-year old mind could grasp the whole concept of what was happening in that issue. The only reason I picked up that comic was because of that awesome looking cover. And I have been a fanboy geek to that day because of that one issue.
You see, that issue introduced me to Dawnstar, one of the most visually stunning comic characters ever IMHO. Even the crappy printing and/or coloring couldn't ruin George Perez's beautiful rendering of this winged-beauty. My only exposure to the LEgion before this had been in those Blue-Ribbon reprints of the Adventure days, so Dawnstar was a completely new character to me. In fact, I don't even think I had more than a dozen or so issues of any comic whe I bought this, so everything was new to me. And looking back and rereading this issue, I have no idea why she stood out more than the other highlighted characters.
I don't know what made Dawnstar stand out to me, but I do know that after reding this I didn't want to see what was going on in Firestorm, Arion, New Teen Titans or the All-Star Squadron even though those characters got about the same amount of "screen-time". I wanted to read the Legion. I wanted to see more of Dawnstar. I wanted to see more of the 30th century.
Dawnstar didn't do much more than hang around the golden age Superman and Solivar chasing shadow demons in Kamandi's time. But I did get to see more of the Legion in issues 2 & 3. Alot of them got to use their powers which was pretty cool. And even though I didn't know who Kid Psycho was, I imagined that his death in #3 must have been a HUGE deal since it looked like he was a member of the Legion. Little did I know.
Anyway, did you think the Legion was handled well in that series? Did anyone else get their first major exposure to the Legion through this crossover? Did you think the two crossover issues were handled well? Come reminisce with me.
From: Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
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My main gripe with the CRISIS is that they could have slipped in a mention of Supergirl/Kara Zor-El's death over into LEGION, but the end result was handled so off-handedly that i found it hard to empathise with the Legion's attitude once the Crisis effect had taken hold.
From: Adelaide, Australia | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I know there were several Legionnaires on the strike force that attacked the Anti-Monitor's fortress. I remember Mon-el and Wildfire. Which other Legionnaires were on that strike team?
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Just those two, unless we count Supergirl and a grown-up Superman. But still, the Legion was very well-represented on that strike force. Wildfire had some good moments in that issue too
posted
Yeah, Crisis was my first exposure to Wildfire, and I remember thinking "who the heck is that?" followed by "that's the coolest costuem I've ever seen!".
Plus, Cosmic Boy and all the Ranzz's got a quick moment in helping transfer the final assault team into the Anti-Monitor's universe.
And Blok had some serious screen time in the middle issues, with Martian Manhunter and some others. This was my first exposure to Blok too.
Come to think of it (I never realized this before), Crisis introduced me to Blok, Wildfire, Dawnstar and some others that I didn't know were part of Legion lore yet.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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I liked the scene that had the wooly mammoths pop up in 30th century Metropolis. Four or five Legionnaires handled the situation in about a page and a half, and we got to learn the names and powers of all five. Crisis was a perfect little introduction to the vastness of the DCU. It seems every corner got at least some exposure. Heck, even Proty II made it into one panel. In just a few panels, Wolfman and Perez gave you everything you needed to know about charactes like Anthro, Solivar, Blue Beetle or Bat Lash. No wonder I'm still a DC fan today.
From: Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
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Totally agree with you there. Despite any screwing up of the DCU that may have occurred as a result, I always look at Crisis with major fondness, and for that reason in particulur. A very well written story with a wide array of characters handled beautifullly.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
In fact, it was such a great introduction/cataloguing of so many things, one wonders exactly why they had to screw everything up afterwards in the effort to make it "simpler".
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Jorg, a fairly large role, in comparison to other DCUers (see above for some more details).
She joined Earth-2 Superman and Solivar (King of Gorilla City) in defending one of the Monitor’s machines against the shadow demons in the early issues. It’s been ages since I read it, but I think this was the machine which had Anthro show up.
So she was also at a spectacular Perez group shot on the Monitor’s satellite in issue #2’s opening with Firestorm, Geo-Force, Cyborg, etc….
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
The Crisis is something of a classic, isnt it? Good artwork (Perez/Ordway on the last few, espesh)- huge cast of diverse characters...who could ask for any thing more?
From: Adelaide, Australia | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Dawnstar did have a somewhat important role early on. Her recruitment by Harbinger was shown while others (Superman and Green Lantern most notably) were not shown. She spent time with the Golden Age Supes - probably the main character of the whole series - along with Solivar defending one of the Monitor's machines in Kamandi's time period. She also is featured somewhat prominately on the covers of issues #1 & 2.
I've always wondered why she was chosen to be used over other probably more recognizable Legionnaires. I mean this in both the story sense and the in an editorial sense. Any ideas anyone?
From: Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
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I really don't know why she was chosen in the story sense - as Solovar himself pointed out, they were brought to the Monitor's machine to guard it, not to track the shadow demons and leave the machine open for attack.
Glad she appeared, though
Brainiac 5 was also shown coping with Kara's death by pushing himself to come up with a solution to the Crisis. I'm glad his romance with Kara wasn't ignored.
posted
I have some basic thoughts on why Dawnstar was chosen:
1. Visually appealing - above all else, Dawnstar is one of the most visually appealing DC heroes of that entire era. Her wings, her colorful yellow costume, her beauty, etc. She's just one of those heroes that light up a cover by being on it.
2. A strong woman character. There wasn't really a lack of these in the DCU, but I'm sure Wolfman wanted to have a few in those early issues, so this may be why she was chosen over the other Legionnaires. Possibly her Native American look too.
3. Tracking powers - both unique, and something that could have been used as a deeper part of the story had Wolfman opted to go that route. Also her excellent flying skills could explain how she was able to duck around the shadow-demons so easy.
Of course, it could have been that Wolfman saw a Perez pic of Dawny and just went "YES, YES, YES, she will be in Crisis!!!"
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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